Thighlander

I got 2000 from an Aeon ATM (3rd floor airport plaza CNX) on Sunday with my HSBC(US) ATM card. It cost me 66.66 usd, but unfortunately HSBC added on 1.50 us. I may get a rebate on that. Without the 1.50 us fee; it appeared to be 2.5% less than what they would have given me for a 50 or 100 Dollar Bill.

I just returned after a 23 month absence. I noticed a sighn along the path near Chiang Mai Gate: 10,000 THB fine for drinking in public (and/or 6 months imprisonment). What's up? that's Singapore prices for fines. Has anyone had to make a donation to avoid prosecution? On the other hand, it looks like the ditched the early bar closing thing. Chalk one up for the good guys.

Was on sale at Albertson's for 75 cents. It's mostly sugar, and really nothing special.

Drainning the laundry into it is the worst thing. Yes, it must be full to work. Pumping will not solve problems associated with overfilling with water. Pumping in the US costs about 400 USD. I've heard them paying 2000 thb here. The previous owners of my old house thought they were having septic trouble and had it pumped and thouyght that would solve everything. In fact, it was the wall mounted air freshener that had fallen into the toilet and someone flushed instead of reaching.

I never pumped in four years in AZ and two years here.

Paying to volunteer and got cheated. Bummer.

Nimenhimen is just a little too upscale for me. The west side of the moat does appear to be the most like a very nice college town. While the Mcdonalds on Loi Kroi is the epicenter of foreign tourism in Chiangmai, it is by no means the cultural center. I think near Central Kad San Kaew would be the best of both worlds, and would minimize taxi expenses.

It's generally a noisy city, so that needs to be checked out in person. You could spend 10 million on a house in the highest class Moo Baan, and live 8 meters from a chained up barking dog. Using A/C will drown out a lot of noise.

I've known two teachers from LIST. Both were certified teachers in the US. I've known one teacher from Prem, and he was not certifiable in the US. It seemed like they overcharge the parents and underpay the teachers. I've met the top people at LIST, and I have a lot of respect for them. Having worked as a substitute teacher in too many schools to count; I think I have a good sense for good vibe/bad vibe and I got a good vibe from LIST.

No way he will be sent to the USA. I do believe he will be extradited to Thailand, eventually.

It's going to be hard for him to claim self defense, when he was standing in the victims doorway.

yes, they work hard. yes, you are breaking the law.

As long as people are willing to pay the 150, I am sure they will keep charging it. It would be nice to see a semi-organized boycott. The most profitable airline in the US, (Southwest), does not charge a bag fee.........maybe we can get AEON T-shirts or something.

I always did better at the Yellow (Ayudhya) machines than the SCB. I recall walking away from TMB a bit dissapointed. I noticed the differences in the TT rates, too. I recall SCB having a lower transaction fee, but a less favorable rate than BKK Bank. Probably better for smaller transactions. It's a part time job staying ahead of bank fees.

The AEON ATM will be my first stop in CM, then I'm going down to the basement BKK Bank branch and make a deposit. I do plan on telling at least one of the executives that I am not a fan of excessive bank fees.

Have we established that the ATM user will be warned of the 150 THB fee?

but the 3 large leo for 120, down the street was good, too.

Tiger is smooth. I was doing the 3 large for 150 promotion in CM.

Hi,

For what its worth myself, a friend and my daughter had some work done recently at Fun sabai next to the Kasikorn Bank at Som Phet Market, just up from Thapha Gate is professional and well priced. I had a metal molar crown done for 6,000 baht, fillings are 500 baht each, cleaning the same. My daughter had fissure sealing done on her back teeth for 500 baht a tooth. X Rays only a couple of hundred baht. There is no way that I would pay 1000 odd baht for a filling when there are many capable dentists around for half of that.

I had great luck with them, also. I was there in 2006 and 2008. My newest Dentists are Tooth and Gum Dental Clinic, located at 75 Huay Kaew. I believe Dr. Jack is a Peridontist, as he does the deep cleaning after novacaine, and the lady does great work, also. The deep cleaning was 300 per section x six. She charged me 900 to do a double front filling that required fine craftwork. Could have easily been a crown, but she said the compounds get better all the time and we should try. Two years later, it's excellent. The abundance of natural light in the treatment room is nice, too.

I did have a bad experience by Chiang Mai Gate with a cleaning. I'm not sure exactly wich place, but it was close to that 7-11. They told me 500 and tried to charge me 600; strike 1, the lady was not gentle, in a hurry, and I believe was filipino; strike three. Lady at Sabai Dee was perfectly gentle. If you already have pretty good teeth and gums; go there--super clean too. She had a mask on, but I'll bet she is an 8 or a 9 in the looks department.

I would just buy/sell ttf, thd within my us brokerage account, and the thai government will not be concerned with your transactions whatsoever.

Try buying Esso Thailand as a foreigner--not that easy.

I have a stock trading account at KimEng in CM. No problem buy and sell Esso Thailand any time I want to. Current price is 6.55

How do the tax witholdings work? Do you have a taxpayer ID? What type of Visa do you have?

Just to add two more Baht, I was looking at a bank statement from July 2008, that shows Chiang Mai spelled three different ways for three different ATMs I used.

Cheangmai, Chiengmai, and Chiangmai. Looks like then, they were giving a solid rate, then charging me two percent (ING Direct).

I would just buy/sell ttf, thd within my us brokerage account, and the thai government will not be concerned with your transactions whatsoever.

Try buying Esso Thailand as a foreigner--not that easy.

AEON ATMs thruout Thailand do NOT charge the 150 baht withdrawal fee on foreign cards that Thai banks charge. They are the best deal going for ATM withdrawals for non-Thai banks cards. There have been some member reports about their ATMs malfunctioning, and charging a withdrawal, but not dispensing the cash... However, I suspect that happens at times with any ATM... And yes, it's a pain to resolve. However, I've been using AEON ATMs exclusively for almost two years now, and I've never once had an ATM problem with them.

Re counter withdrawals, many (though not all) of the Thai banks will do them fee free for people using foreign ATM cards. However, you don't want to do that with any kind of credit card, because your home bank likely will charge you a cash advance fee and start charging interest from the date of the withdrawal. The withdrawal limits do vary bank to bank among the Thai banks, as might their willingness to do the counter withdrawal. And then , your home bank may also have 24 hour limits on any kind of withdrawals. So either limit could come into play.

I've never done a counter withdrawal, mainly because the AEON ATMs work nicely for me, and because I really don't like carrying my passport around to make bank visits, and like even less having to deal with Thai bank tellers who may or may not have any clue of what I'm trying to transact... And much of the time, seem pretty clueless about anything beyond the routine transactions that they handle with Thai customers most of the time...as opposed to international bank card counter withdrawals.

I think what some are referring to as a "counter withdraw" is actually a visa/mc cash advance. I think the key is what ATM network they are a part of; Cirrus, Plus, Star, etc...

It appears that there are two Aeons in CM; one is third floor of Central Airport, the other at "first Carrefour". Does anyone know where that is exactly?

I have a Citibank Singapore card, and am balking at paying their 430.00 USD fee to wire 16,000

Do I understand correctly that I can go into BKK Bank where I have an account, and withdraw and/or transfer from City to BKK without paying a fee?

I regularly transfer money from my USAA bank acct, into my BKK Bank acct here in thailand, with a very minimal charge... something like 150 or 200 baht per transfer... there is a 10K limit on the transfer amount, which is standard for USA.

The restrictions are on outbound; not inbound. More than 20,000 USD out of Thailand requires Central Bank approval. If you are a preferred customer in America, there will be no fee to do a TT to Thailand. Bangkok Bank uses a sliding scale on receive fees, but it peaked out at 500 thb. Of course, there is a buy/sell on the TT.

I've noticed HSBC Offshore, where you can go back and forth between currencies. You may need about 150K USD to get started. Now that I've been with Bangkok Bank for four years, I am going to see if they will approve me for online banking.

But, if you are taking a cash advance--the fees will be way worse than 150 thb. I think the Op was asking about taking an ATM card from America, and using it at a Bangkok Bank or SCB ATM to withdraw cash. I have an account at Bangkok Bank, and never would be charged to go in the branch and withdraw money. They did tell me it was 200 thb per year to have one of their ATM cards. I can guarantee you this---you will be better off doing it without visa/mastercard.

I'm looking for a place to watch Washington v. Dallas on Monday 13 September at 7:00 am. What about the UN? I can listen to my games (Washington Redskins) on www.wmal.com. Who's your team?

The only place I can thank of that has UBC and opens at 8 AM and would show the game is Mad Dog. Not to many bars are going to be open at that time of the morning. Ill be at home watching the game.

Will they be showing the NBC Sunday Night Games from America? Any Preseason action? What about internet feeds? I noticed I can get cnbc for 9.95 per month ala carte and bloomberg for free online.

Thanks; I will have a look.

ALL NFL games including pre season are shown exclusively on UBC/Truevision Channel 108/ASN. They are the only authorized broadcaster in Thailand. They show approximately 5 live games per week plus they replay the games. As for my previous post about Mad Dog, IMHO they have the best British Breakfast in town and at the correct price.

What do you expect from sleazy Pattaya....at least he held on to his cancer cigs.

LOL. Maybe Altria will pay him to use photo.

Wine from Bulgaria and Hungary? Not typical Duty Free fare. There are many different operators of Duty Free Stores. As for the cigars, the Cohibas are most frequently counterfeited. The others you will see the balsa wood box, and the hologram with the 1492 logo etc.. Those are authentic. The ones sold at Pat Pong are complete fakes (not the only thing), but Dusit-Thani is very close by and the real deal. If they will counterfeit Marlboros................

Currently living in a neighborhood with about 15 Cubans. Show us the photos........

Wouldn't this be a case of being better off if you had paid with a credit card?